Recently, multiple switches arranged between a server and storage are used to form a plurality of communication paths, e.g., a multipath configuration, between the servers and storage in a storage area network (hereafter abbreviated as “SAN”) environment. Redundancy between the server and the storage can be assured by forming a multipath configuration in which the communication paths are completely and physically separated.
To confirm that the communication paths are physically separated, a path searching method exists which searches each of the communication paths in a multipath configuration. For example, known art includes a technique to verify redundancy in physical connections in a network and a technique to diagnose redundancy of access from a server to storage (see for example Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-174157 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-167794).
However, when searching communication paths in a multipath configuration with assured physical redundancy using the path searching method, the amount of calculation increases which in turn increases the processing load required for verifying the communication path when conducting the search in a large-scale network. In this case, a large amount of time is needed for the verification.